History Labour Managers

Sample details Pages: 19 Words: 5569 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Lectures 3 In the modern period of human history, the division of labour in all but the smallest organisations has come to include the specialist role of a manager. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "History Labour Managers | Management Dissertations" essay for you Create order These people are required to step back from and stand above the basic operations and tasks of the organisation and in the famous words of Henri Fayol, forecast, plan, organise, command, co-ordinate and control. Henri Fayol and Frederick Taylor who coined the term scientific management, pushed the notion that there should be a body of specialist knowledge and expertise which managers would apply to work organisation. This notion gives us what Tony Watson 2006 characterises as a systems control notion of management. Systems control thinking frames the organisation as a big machine, which is designed by expert managers, who then staff it with employees, who fulfil the organisations goals through playing out the designed roles. Systems control framing of managerial work, suggests a managers work is to design, control and maintain the organisation as a big social machine. This work is done by managers only who are skilled and knowledgeable experts as they are the organisation designers and drivers. And it involves the application of neutral technical expertise (often affected by informal, implicit understanding, self interest, politics, and negotiation). It also suggests that managers do not further their own interests but to fulfil the organizations goals. But organisation dont have goals, they arent living. It is only humans which can give them goals, top management sets the goals, and these top managers will have self interests, so this framing is not realistic or the way things are in practise. Why systems control thinking is attractive and used The concept of highly trained individuals engineering the big organisational machine that is present in modern societies has proved to b seductive and powerful. This is because it gives those in the profession of educating and training managers an essential purpose, a raison detre. Not only this, but the belief in the possibility of a body of objective knowledge and politically neutral managerial expertise provides further comfort and reassurance by avoiding recognition that managing and controlling in any filed of human activity is bound to meet resistance an is bound to involve managers in conflicts and power relations. The implicit modernist faith that all of this is being done for the sake of general human progress helps avoid tricky questions about right and wrong, and who might win and who might lose with regard to any to any particular organisational innovation or managerial initiative. Anything that is done in the name of reason, it is assumed , is bound to be for the best. No matter how attractive this concept is, it is weak as it is not realistic and thus unhelpful. Because organisations do not have goals, they have tasks that must be done e.g. manufacture cars, and at the same time it is the people in the organisation who have diverse interests and goals what are not that of the organisation. The attraction of the idea of organisational goals , is that it gives the organisation a politically neutral existence and an politically neutral managerial activities. It is only human beings who can have goals, in the organisations goals emerge out of the thoughts and wants of the individuals in it. if we personify the organisation if can lead to a danger of over simplifying really complex matters in the organisation. And we would be leaving out the analysis of all the human actions, choices, interpretations, negotiations, and choices that must be taken into account if we seriously want to understand what is going on. For example if a manager adopts a systems control frame in destining and allocating tasks in work, they may not consider people work orientation, ie why they come to work, the task allocation they design and dictate may them be inappropriate to motivate individuals, and this may lead to poor productivity, and wasted human resources that would not be contributing to taking the organisation into the future. Individuals in the organisation will all have diverse goals and interests and for a manager to start out by assuming that they are presuming the same organisational goals in nave, and the job of a manager in reality is to align these interest, through negotiation, manipulation etc. Because of the above limitations of systems control framing we need an understanding of managerial work that which is derived from a more sophisticated and realistic process relational was of understanding the organisation. Process relational framing of the organisation suggests that the organisation is an association of people or a set of relationships always in flux. Organising thus involves continuous social, political, cultural, technological, economic and moral processes to achieve certain tasks. These relationships of cooperation do not automatically come about they need to be shaped and managed, they have to be worked for and won by the manager. A manager cant directly control people to do what they want, they have to indirectly manipulate and negotiate with them to achieve successful task completion. Shaping and reshaping, negotiation and renegotiating, mediating, persuading, exchanging, and trading will have to continually occur if the organisation is going to complete the tasks undertaken in its name an to continue into the future. This was of understanding organisational life, togther with the research evidience of how manager behavive and actually do in pratice, suggests that magaerial work is not a matter of excerising specialised scientific knowledge to drive the big social machine challed the organisation as systems control pushes us to think. A more realistic under standing of managerial work is: Managerial work is not a matter of applying a science or a bundle of knowledge It is a social, moral political , cultural and economic art, requiring skills in negotiating, persuation, politicking. Trading, ie it is craft requiring It needs the ability to sensiviely interpret the thoughts and wants of other as they are human not physical resources The ability to shape meanings value and human commitments. The above is what in process relational terms is managerial work, rather than management, this is done so that it is easier to under stand the function and the broad activity of managerial work or managing and distinguish between them. Management- is the over all shaping of relationships , understandings and processes within a work organisation to bring about the completion of the tasks undertaken in the organisations name in such a way that the organisation continues into the future. However this dimension of the overall phenomenon has to be seen alongside two other dimensions. Management is the function that must be fulfilled in every organisation, maybe by own person, or by many members in the organisation. The first of these is the activity of the managerial work. Is the action or things that are done to give direction to the range of activities that go on in the organisation. The other dimension is the set of working roles that make up the set of people, who are the managers in the organisation. This is the formal role. In practise we confuse these 2 dimensions because we use one term, which is management for all three. It is important to keep this 3 way distinction in mind whenever we sre thinking analytically about management. The relevance to managerial practice of this three-dimensional view of the management can be illustrated by looking at the participant observation research in which the distinction was first developed by Watson 2001. In a discussion with Ted Meadows, a manager in the company being stuied, he pointed out that, the company wants to distinguish between problems caused by having the wrong managers, and problems caused by having the right managers, who are non the less performing they wrong activities. Distinguishing between these problems was essential, as the manager was contemplating getting rid on he managers as the over management of the company was weak, but the managers he had were very skilled and good but the managerial work they were doing was not right. Had he sacked these managers he would have lost talented managers, and the management of the company would have further declined. The researcher found that the managers in the company were very capable and skilled, contrary to Meadows view that they werent good, but the tasks they were given by top management and the priorities imposed on them were such that their abilities were not being used in a good way. Thus we can see that the distinguishing of the terms is essential as it leads to very different practical consequences, i.e. task redesign or firing the managers. The simplistic inference that bad management is a result of having bad managers can be a very dangerous one, in practical terms, given the very real possibility that bad management can arise from the misuse of managerial talents, as readily as from the appointment of incompetent individuals to fill managerial roles. Thus we can see a great deal of difference from blind adoption of theory, and material work in practice. (Distinguishing also important was just because you cant see or define clear cut managerial activity, or panning, controlling etc does not mean that the function is not being fulfilled, it is but in an indirect way). There are two other implications of the three dimensional model of management: Management is a strategic matter, and the logic of both the job of the manager and the work of managing is on one on contributing to the shaping and the directing of the organisation as a whole. Some managers are more directly involved in strategic matters than other. And some more clearly take on leadership roles than others. While there cannot be organisations without management, it does not follow that the organisation needs formal managers to have management. Management is conceptualised very deliberately as being concerned with the continuation of the organisation into the future. We could call this a strategy centred view of organisational management. It would be less helpful to recognise managers as people who are simply in charge of a particular activity and who fulfil the function without any refrence to how the activity relates to the over all shaping, directing and performance of the organisation. A manager is most usefully seen to be a manager by vitue of how they relate the particular tasks they do to the over all pattern of tasks and priorties of the organisation as a whole. The second point is that, organisations must have management but not neceaarly managers. It is often sensible and practical to create posts within the organisations overall division of labour who involve them self more in the shaping and directing og work activities, than in the direct work of production, or manufacturing or goods or services. But this is only a matter of organisational design choice and not something that is essential. And this goes against the systems-control thinking which see it vital to have an engineer and driver of the organisation, special to all other employees. This is related to contingency thinking, that suggests that the way an organisation is managed and organisational choices is dependent on factors such as technology, size etc, so at times it may be appropriate to have a manager position, while at other times for example a very small firm such as a two man surveying company, the people who do the work could also manage the organisation which out the name tag of a manager. However once an organisation reaches a certain size it is often more efficient to have managerial only roles. We can thus clearly see that a manager is not needed to manage the organisation in all situations. There are many way of managing an organisation, for example worker cooperatives and self managed enterprises have come into and gone out of fashion at several times in history, and it is possible that some of their principles with be considered once again as new options are sought for organising work in a technologically and globally changing world, this again this high lights that organisational choices are made in the light of contingencies. But at present, what actually do managers do, and how do we make sense of what we observe when social scientists go out to study every day managerial behaviour. Research on what managers actually do in the real world rather than text books, was carried out from the 1950 to the 1960 by for example, Tom Burns, Tony Watson, and Melville Dalton. (talk about direct and indirect control, official and unofficial structure, this un official behaviour and activities supports the official culture and goals. Barnard 1938 argued that an executives job was not to attend directly to the official structure and culture of an organisation but to shape what he saw was the more informal aspects of the organisation, that in aggregate contribute to the strategy that will take the organisation into the future) The picture that emerges from what mangers actually do is one of which: Managers are endlessly on the move from one task to another. Their day is highly fragmented as they rapidly switch from one issue to another and from one social interaction to another (might be to understand each employees work orientation, manage all constituencies make a decision, negotiated order, ) (garbage can) They spend a great deal of time talking with people. This occurs on the telephone, in formal meetings, and in conversations what occur inside and outside the workplace, in offices, in corridors, (various consistencies) When walking to see people on the job. A large proportion of these conversations are with people who the manager has no authority (constituencies that he has no direct control over, but he has to stratigically get them on his side so the organisation can progress, politicking).( or indulgency theory allowing so that when organisation needs something in the future they do it for him) Managerial looks reactive, and rarely appears to follow a sequence of reflective planning followed by actions to implement specific decision (this may be because of the garbage can model , there are many choices, problems, solutions, people, interests, that all have to be managed as things happen to make a decision thus even if a planned decision was made it may have to be changed in the light of all these things) Managers rely a great deal on gossip hearsay and guess work to keep informed. Formal reports and management information systems play only a small part in informing managerial thinking, and what is taken from these tends to be contextulaised by more informal sources of knowledge and insight. They thus spend little time analysing formal information in the office or systematically plan how they are going to spend time (consider the motivation of employees, a manager can plan this in isolation, they have to interact with employee and decide what to do in the light of the workers work orientation and changes in their life etc, they cant just plan and implement) Manager are rarely seen getting their was or getting tasks done by giving direct command to subordinates ( it is a trade, give and take, and negotiation and manipulation if the implicit contract, direct command does not lead to productive work, because they are humans not physical resources) These studies taken as a whole suggest that managers rarely behave in the ways we might expect, as planners, designers and implementers of systems, of instruction giving managers. Instead they are handling their dependence on other people through endless talking, listening, and persuading. They do this primarily by negotiating, trading, exchanging with all the parties whom they rely on to achieve the tasks for which they have responsibility ( as the have to manage many consistencies in and out of the organisation, it explains a lot of the frenzy and fragmentation, and the impact contract of many people they have to deal with) There is however logic behind this apparently frenzied managerial whirl of activity. There is a risk of misunderstanding what is going on and people from the outside looking in may feel that management of the organisation as an over all function is not occurring. But if we use the three dimensional model of management we can see that although the tasks being done appear to be pointless, this type of managerial work is in fact working towards a clear strategy that is in the form of indirect control, and negotiaction that leads to over all management of the organisation to continue into the future. Thus real work of managers is not anything like Fayols classic description of managerial work of, planning, organising, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. Although the outcome of their activities still leads to the desired results that would come from using Fayols more direct and unrealistic forms on managing. Fayols list has been taught to many students, and this has not helped many in understanding the real way managers manage, and thus many students are socked when they first graduate and entre the world of work, they often feel lost, and many comment that they are taught too much theory and not enough about practical situation. Fayols list has functioned as a slogan for the systems control thinking perspective about managerial thinging in the organisation. And process relational thinking helps us make sense of managerial behaviour of negotiating and manipulating process and relationships that shapes the organisation. Just because we cant see Fayols command element in real life does not mean it doesnt not occur. Although there might not be direct command, the function can still be achieved by other ways that are not so direct, such as manipulation or trading. Thus commanding may not be seen but it is done. A study that helps us understand why managers act the way they do is KOTTER 1982 study, where he studied 15 general managers that were seen as very successful by a variety of people. Kotter 1983 observed that these managers were not very systematic, they were more informal, less reflective, more reactive, less well organised than we might expect the typical manager to be. Kotter makes sense of this at first sight, puzzling situation by recognising the inevitability of the immense ambiguity and uncertainty that surrounds the managers job. Decision therefore cannot emerge from cool calculated analysis of clear and objective data. Reality is not like that thus managers cannot act like that, Kotter states that the decision making environment is characterised by uncertainty, great diversity, and an enormous quantity of potentially relevant information (GARBAE CAN). Thus kotter is giving recognition to one of the most ideas in social science, that of bounded rationality. The concept of bounded rationality suggests that, the human ability to calculate the most appropriate means of achieving a specific end is limited or bounded by two ways, firstly that only a small proportion of all the knowledge and information which is potentially relevant to any rational analysis can ever in reality be obtained. And secondly, the human mind would only cope with a fraction of all the relevant information had it been obtainable. But to give emphasis to these limitations to instrumental rationality in actual human behaviour is not to turn ones back on the principle of instrumental rationality. Instead it is to come to terms that instrumental rationality can only take us so far, in helping us achieve or purposes. This means that in doing managerial work or in trying to understand the managerial practices to be observed in real life organisations, we have to come to terms with ambiguity in organisational situations, and with what follows from it : uncertainty about the future. To be fully rational be have to come to terms with the inescapability of ambiguity and uncertainty. Ambiguity exists when the meaning of a situation or and event is unclear or confused and is therefore open to a variety of interpretations. Uncertainty exists when the understanding of a future event or situation is unclear or confused and is therefore open to a wide variety of interpretations. In an organisational setting there is ambiguity and uncertainty as manager are concerned with taking the organisation into the future, but it is open to a variety of interpretation of if this will happen and how, We thus have to understand that we can never really know precisely what we are doing in managerial situations any more than we can ever really know exactly where we are going. But this doesnt not mean that we give up trying to organise and manage a complex work tasks. It means that manager have to work at organising these affairs while Recognizing that the world is a complicated and unpredictable place Accepting that people that managers deal with are complicated and un predictable beings Coming to terms with the fact that manager them self are complicated and unpredictable beings What does these observations mean in practise? Returning back to kotters research, he went on to point out that managerial decisions could not in the real world be implements by straight forward issuing of subordinate. Instead they gave to be implement through a large, diverse, group of subordinates, peers, bosses and outsiders, people who them effectively the manager have little control over. The methods that these managers used to get things done were therefore much more about influencing people than commanding people, and this explains the indirect way the manage people. ( they dont have power over people work orientation they can only manipulate the implicit contract.) They used a great deal of face to face contact and were constantly encouraging, manipulating and persuading people. They were demanding of others and used a wide range of ways to reward people for producing what was required (implicit contract exchange to control people not direct control) The networks established by managers were such that their members would influence each to work towards fulfilling the agenda around which the networks have been developed In fact the series of agendas that managers identified for themselves mediated between the longer term strategic priorities of the business as a while and the day to day activities orchestrated by the general manager. We could perhaps see these agendas as mental maps that manager used to make sense of what is happening and help them understand how unfolding events might be linked to the overall directing of the organisation( eg strategic exchange with employees in the contract to get them motivated to go tasks that take the organisation into the future) There are various ways of managing people, various tasks and activities and various projects, that could be adopted by the manager to contribute to the meeting of the agenda. Thus can explain managements behaviour of a manager. However these agendas (look up strategy), are not conceived away from the everyday activities. The constant monitoring of information coming from a wide range of sources, eg gossip, rumour, etc contributes to the development if the agenda, and the managers were skilled and assertive at questioning people and obtaining with information ( from multiple constituencies). Thus we recognise the method behind the seemingly mad behaviour of managers in reality, ie the efficiency behind seemingly inefficient behaviour, we can see that all the fragmented behaviour adds up to a degree of organisational system-ness. The process relational framing draws our attention to the range of social, political, cultural and economic processes that managerial and organisational work involves. And it rejects the systems control assumption that the organisation is a system. Yet it does not reject the notion of an emerging from the processes that go on, just rejects looking at the organisation as a system from the start. Process relational thinking sees system like qualities as emergent, fragile and temporary, it has to we won and re-won by skilful managerial action. All of the unofficial things they do support the official aspects and strategy of the organisation ie the agendas, to take the organisation into the future. This managerial work involves indirect control and all of this seemingly fragmented behaviour is for a reason such as, this indirect control and way or managing the organisation shapes the structural side of the organisation, such as a flat hierarchy and in turn the culture is shaped, which is based on equality, trust etc. It is all part of a bigger picture, the way a manager runs the organisation affects everything else. Indulgency theory may also explain why sometimes we see manager acting irrationally, but in reality they do it as they see it was a tool for meeting the agenda, such as they may turn a blind eye to a person taking a sick day to go see their child in a school play, in turn they will get the employees cooperation if they for example need them to do some last minute over time. Also the manager runs round from one person to another and from dealing with one issue to another because the organisation is associated with many strategic constituencies. And the exchange with all these parties and their contribution to the organisation is essential to the long term survival of the organisation. Some times one group of the consistencies may be more important than another, and at another time some one else is more important than the other. Thus the manager has to manage these different constituencies ranging from investors, to employees, to politicians. This is to work towards the long term strategy they have to make the company continue into the future. Eg politicians, investors, owners, media etc. endlessly monitoring the activities and expectations of all the various parties and constituencies with which they need to deal and pulling people towards compliance with in the agenda they had developed for shaping the enterprise Managers have to thus be skilled at managing these diverse sets of people to ensure long term continuation. Manager are more likely to be skilled than other manager in their jobs if they are skilful at managing relationships and commitments in a way which comes to terms with all the ambiguities and uncertainties with which they are inevitably confronted. This suggests that we should be able to identify some capabilities that managers and leaders within organisations are likely to require if they are going to contribute to the effectiveness of the organisation. A variety of attempts have been made to identify successful managers differ from less successful ones. The danger from these research is that these skills identified are then seen as traits a person should have and if they do they are given a managerial role. But in reality just because a person has these traits does not mean they will be a competent manager. Also a manager may have these skills, but things that are out of their control such as how the job has been set up and the tasks they have been allocated may not be appropriate thus, they have the skill but other things prevent them from being a competent manager. Thus we can infer that come traits and skills do make managers potentially better managers than others, but this potential is affected by many other factors such as the job design. Thus we need to look at what managerial potential a person has, and how effective they might be in practice. Managerial effectives is the successful application of the skills, knowledge and aptitudes to the fulfilment of tasks in a managers area of responsibility so that as great contribution as possible is made to the performance of the organisation and its long term survival. Tony Watson suggests some broad characteristics of more able and less able managers and leaders. There are three categories of characteristics personal orientation cognitive style interpersonal style in each of the three sections there are traits that distinguish between able and less able managers. Eg 1 personal orientation: achievement and results orientation, an able manager would set high but realistic standards of achievement for self, and for others, and seek continual improvement, in processes and results, and monitor progress against targets. A less able manager would muddle through without clear objectives, and is happy with adequate performance and judge success as avoidance of trouble. Cognitive style: vision and strategic thinking: Good manager: can relate to current activities to a clear coherent image of a future state of affairs for the whole organisation and their part of it, they understand the links between every day activities and the long term effectiveness. They manage their segment of the organisation as a contribution to the whole organisation. The appreciate the global context in which all organisations increasingly work and are sensitive to differing cultural norms within and across societies. Bad manager: have a short term perspective and an inward looking approach to managing their responsibilities- their department or functional objectives are seen as the ends themselves rather than as the means to more effective performance of the business as whole. Minimal attention is paid to customers or clients and there is little awareness of changing global circumstances or cultural variations that exist within a and across societies. Interpersonal style: sensitivity and listing (important for implicit contact) Good: are sensitive to preferences and emotions of both themselves and those they work with ( inside and out side the organisation and this is needed for strategic constituencies and to exchange with them, resources and information ) They treat others and their ideas with respect ( they dont plan and enforce own ideas only as they see them self as the specialist with the specialist knowledge) Listen carefully to the ideas and opinions of others, work actively to elicit positive contributions from them ( needed for successful implicit contract manipulation. ( also to understand misbehaviour and what it means to successfully manage it rather than label it as act of ignorance they get to route of problem so that resistance does not persist. Bad manager: have little regards fro the people they work with, they are insensitive to the feelings of others, concentrate on their own ideas and feelings and objectives and dont consider the interests of others. The first thing we notice about the table put together by Tony Watson 2006 is that it is consistent with the process relational conception of the human individual as emergent. It departs from the systems control way of understanding the human individual as a fixed entity or miniature system with certain given characteristics, personality traits and attitudes like pervious research has suggested. Less successful managers can change and adopt these more preferred way of managing to help them in their work. The competent manager or effective leader is not a particular type of person but someone who acts or thinks in a particular way. Hence the model uses the term orientation and style to give an emphasis to this dynamic or process-ual view of the human individual. The model is not compatible with the view of management as a specialist occupation activity equivalent to e.g. engineering. The criteria of managerial capability fits closely with the process relational way of forming managerial work. This frame of reference strongly supported by research into what managers actually do suggests that managerial work is not most helpfully understood as involving the application of a body of specialist knowledge to running an organisational machine. It is much more understood as a matter of deploying social , political and cultural skills in a particular way. The vital competencies are therefore basic human social ones. these skills will be strongly sought by employers, and even though no one is super human and has all the skills the most successful managers will be those who master most of the skills. This pulling and shaping occurred through the application of a range of social, interpersonal, political, learning and analytical skills, such as those described in the managerial competencies criteria, it did not occur through overt and direct attempts to control behaviours. But why/ This is because they are highly dependent on a large number of people to achieve their porous, and in spite of their significant degree of authority and formal power, they have little direct control over the majority of people they are dependent on, eg investors, media, local MPs etc. thus they can only exchange and negotiate and indirectly control them They also have to reply on highly ambiguous information gathered from a diverse range of sources to inform all of their persuading and influencing activities. A high level of cognitive skill is need to make sense of all the information with which the manager is bombarded, as is a capacity to learn continuously from what they see hear and experience. This agrees with the process relation view of an emergent manager. And that leaning does not just occur at university , and you cant just learn theory about how to be a good manager because the dynamics of real life is very different. We can thus see why in the real world makers often make a decision that is like guess work, they are leaning from experiences. They also have to have emotional intelligence To operate successfully in a social context which is the organisation. Manger status can also hold social status, and when carrying out the task of being a manager one must not get carries away with the status it hold as this can be inefficient.

Wal-Mart Green Supply Chain Management - Green Purchasing, Green Manuf Case Study

Essays on Wal-Mart Green Supply Chain Management - Green Purchasing, Green Manufacturing, Green Distribution Marketing, and Reverse Logistics Case Study The paper â€Å"Wal-Mart Green Supply Chain Management - Green Purchasing, Green Manufacturing, Green Distribution Marketing, and Reverse Logistics† is a   brilliant variant of case study on management. Today, the globe is being confronted with environmental changes that are affecting the world population. There have been increased debates on climatic change which have created cross-nation movements to identify the causes of climate change and develop solutions to it before it is too late. In an effort to address the issue of global warming, many nations with main focus on the organization are passing rules and regulations which are largely aimed at reducing the world's carbon emission (Bowen, Cousins, Lamming and Faruk, 2001). Similarly, businesses, consumers and various stakeholders are becoming environmentally conscious. Recently, customer loyalty is shifting into more environmentally friendly products whereas companies are adopting the green supply chains by introducing more sustainable strategies in their organization. It is clear that the focus on the different sustainable strategies continues to result in a growing need for effectively integrating strong environmentally sound choices into organization supply chain management practices (Bowen, Cousins, Lamming and Faruk, 2001). This paper aims at discussing how Wal-Mart is adopting the principles of environmental and social sustainability both in its logistic and supply chain management operations.Figure 1: Timeline of Wal-mart sustainable activities2.0 Green supply chain overviewAccording to Corbett and Klassen (2006), the green supply chain is defined as the process of incorporating environmental friendly inputs as well as transforming these inputs into outputs that can be re-used and reclaimed at the end of their defined lifecycle thus the creation of a more sustainable supply chain.Figure 2: Environmental impact at each stage of the supply chainCorbett and Klassen (2006) assert that, in order to address the issue of global warming and climatic change, it is important to integrate environmental factors with supply chain principles so as to understand how the process of a given organization supplies chain impact on the environment. Therefore, a more sustainable supply chain is not only optimal to a particular organization but rather it is optimal relative to its limited impact. Corbett and Klassen (2006) assert that, greening supply chain can be defined as the process of implementing a sustainable development plan which is aimed at achieving improved safety, environmental and health performance. This ensures efficient use of energy and other natural resources while at the same time reducing both societal and environmental impacts of business operations.One of the main aspects of the green supply chain is that they work towards improving both a company's economic as well as environmental performance through establishing a stronger supplier and buyers relationship (Lenox an d King, 2004). Companies such as Wal-Mart have developed different initiatives for ensuring that green supply chain management which includes screening its suppliers for environmental performance. Also, the company provides training to build on its company supplier’s environmental management especially in enhancing the reverse logistical system. According to Lenox and King (2004), green supply chain management has various environmentally preferably production of products as well as services that conserves the water and energy while at the same time minimizing the generation of waste and greenhouse gasses.Green supply chain management= Green purchasing + green manufacturing/ material management + green distribution/ marketing + Reverse logistics.

Business Strategy of Management Context of Standardization

Question: Describe about the Business Strategy of Management for Context of Standardization. Answer: Chapter 7: 1). It is observed that in the context of standardization, the creators and the participants are not only concerned about developing new ideas, they are encouraged to create new standards. On the contrary, format wars could occur through proprietary formats that are usually incompatible. These both are in a competition in the same industry. 2). It is evident that standardization could help in developing the coordination as well as the efficiency. Likewise, standardization also helps in increasing the quality of service 3). Standardization is influenced by the competition and the price war. In order to become aggressive in the market, the organizations deal with the price war strategy (Hill, Jones Schilling, 2014). It has been identified that first and the second movers in the market could provide creation as well as innovation. Hence, the beginner or the start-up firms play the role of first mover. Conversely, the second movers are aware of the faults existing in the innovation process or implementation caused by the first mover. Chapter 8: Answers 1). The organizations that have strengthened their positions in the domestic market are the rush of expand their business in the global market. In the global environment, the organization could experience increasing number of market opportunities. While running the operation in the global environment, the firms get the skilled employees at considerably low cost, which helps them to keep balance in both local as well as international market (Bremmer, 2014). The organization could hire the best employees at local labor rate in the country where they run the operation. In addition, contributing to the employment of the country, the organization receives support from the government that helps the firm to acquire an unknown market. 2). As discussed earlier, the organization in the global environment gets the opportunities to hire the potential employees at low rate. Thus, the company sums up the production cost and invest more on the Research and Development to increase the quality of products. Likewise, the increase in the profit margin and stable economic scale helps the company to expand the business in the global environment. For example, most of the large organizations like Google, Microsoft in United State hire the employees from foreign countries. 3). One of the significant strategies mostly implemented by the organization in the global environment is adoption of different culture. While running the business in the foreign country, it is necessary for the company adapt to country culture and trends. Based on the culture and trends, the products and services should be developed. This helps to best meet the needs of the customers. 4). It is mostly observed that while getting into the global market, the organizations apply different strategies to remain active, safe and earn profits. Four different drivers that large drive the operation of a firm are Technology, Global Talent Pool, cost of labor and Agreements of trade (Laufs Schwens, 2014). Figure 1: Global market entry strategy (Source: Laufs Schwens, 2014) On the contrary, strategic alliance is also considered as an effective way to get into a new market. It could be risky for the company to run the operation in new market being unaware of the market drivers. Therefore, the company relies on the strategic alliance. Reference list: Bremmer, I. (2014). The new rules of globalization.Harvard Business Review,92(1), 103-107. Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R., Schilling, M. A. (2014).Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning. Laufs, K., Schwens, C. (2014). Foreign market entry mode choice of small and medium-sized enterprises: A systematic review and future research agenda.International Business Review,23(6), 1109-1126.

US Constitution Essay Example For Students

US Constitution Essay a.Creates Congress House and Senate3.Senate tries impeachment proceedingsa.President is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forcesb.President has appointment power for officers and judgesc.Has the power to negotiate treaties1.Pocket veto if President does not act in 10 days and Congress is not still in session, bill dies and must be reintroduced; if Congress is in session and President does not act in 10 days, bill becomes lawa.Federal judges are appointed for lifec.Article 78 mandamus order from a Court directing a government official, body or Court to do something it is required to do (done by trial court)4.Article 4 Powers of the Statesa.US shall protect states from invasionb.All powers not specifically granted to the US are granted to states5.Article 5 Congress (2/3) can propose amendments; 2/3 of state legislatures can call a convention to propose amendments. We will write a custom essay on US Constitution specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now 6.Article 6 Constitution is supreme law of the land7.Article 7 -Specifies requirements for ratification of the Constitutionb.No law prohibiting free exercise of religione.Freedom to assemble (free association)f.Right to petition government for a redress of grievances9.Second Amendment Freedom to bear arms10.Third Amendment -No soldiers quartered in private homes11.Fourth Amendment No unreasonable search and seizurea.Does not apply to the private sector (government only)b.Does not say that a warrantless search is illegal, just unreasonablec.Warrantless searches are legal in exigent circumstances; plain viewd.Privacy interests of the individual vs. states interestsd.No deprivation of life, liberty or property without due process of law1.Procedural due process speedy and public trial; right to attorney; presumption of innocence. 2.Substantive due process laws that would deprive you of fundamental rightse.No taking private property without compensationa.Speedy and public trial by juryd.Confrontation of witnesses and to compel witnesses14.Seventh Amendment Right to trial by jury in civil cases involving amounts over $2515.Eighth Amendment No excessive bail or fines, cruel and unusual punishment16.Ninth Amendment No law can infringe on others rights17.Tenth Amendment Powers not delegated to the US given to the states18.Eleventh Amendment The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. 19.Twelfth Amendment Election of President and Vice President changes Article 2 in that the race for President and Vice President are different. 20.Thirteenth Amendment Outlaws slavery21.Fourteenth Amendment Dual citizenship22.Fifteenth Amendment Right to vote blacks23.Sixteenth Amendment federal income tax24.Seventeenth Amendment The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. 25.Eighteenth Amendment Prohibition26.Nineteenth Amendment Right to vote women27.Twentieth Amendment The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin; The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begi n at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day; 28.Twenty-First Amendment repeals 18th29.Twenty-Second Amendment No more than 2 terms for president30.Twenty-Third Amendment DCs electoral votes = to the number of senators and representatives if was a state, but no more than the least populated state31.Twenty-Fourth Amendment No poll taxes32.Twenty-Fifth Amendment removal of President Vice-President becomes President; new President nominates new Vice-President who is confirmed by a majority vote of both houses of Congress 33.Twenty-Sixth Amendment SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 34.Twenty-Seventh Amendment No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened. 1.asserted the Supreme Courts power to review acts of Congress and invalidate those that conflict with the Constitution2.Background Info. President John Adams, a Federalist appointed several judgeships at the end of his term when Thomas Jefferson, a Republican was elected to office; Jefferson refused to deliver the commissions and as a result, William Marbury, one of the appointees sued James Madison, the secretary of state, and asked to Supreme Court to issue a write of mandamus to order the delivery of his commission3.Opinion John Marshall decided that although Madison should have delivered the commission to Marbury, but that the Court lacked the jurisdiction to issues writs of mandamus (must come from a court of original jurisdiction); a section of the Judiciary Act of 1789 granted the Court the power to issue writs of mandamus, the Court ruled that this exceeded the authority allotted the Court unde r Article III of the Constitution and was therefore null and void. .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9 , .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9 .postImageUrl , .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9 , .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9:hover , .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9:visited , .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9:active { border:0!important; } .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9:active , .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9 .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u3da6d17bf9f5866103ae3162ab235ca9:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: A Report On Johannes Kepler W/Laws Essay1.Background :1896 Plessy, who insisted that he was 7/8 Caucasian and only 1/8 black refused to sit in a separate railcar from whites, he was arrested 2.Holding the Supreme Court found that a Louisiana statute requiring separate intrastate railcars for whites and blacks neither abridgeBibliography:

Free Essays on Huckleberry Finn

Title: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Author: Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) Author Works: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper Mark Twain: Mark Twain is one of America’s best authors and the most famous. Mark twain was born in 1835 on November 30 in Florida, Missouri. Florida and Hannibal, Missouri is where he got his ideas for Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Twain was an avid traveler he went to many places in his time; all aver the world. To write he observed people doing there everyday lives. He got many awards from colleges universities and others; He died On April 21, 1910. Illustrator: none Setting: Some of the book is set in St. Petersburg, Missouri. But most of the book is set in and on the Mississippi River. The City is about 80 miles away from St. Louis. But The Book is in Eighteenth Century America. Characterization: Huck Finn: the main Character of the book, son of the town drunk. He is 12 yrs old. Clever and knows a lot about life. Jim: the run away slave of Miss Watson helps Huck gain freedom. Travels with him. Widow Douglas: Huck’s guardian who adopts him and wants to civilize him. Takes care of two other kids. Pap: Huck’s father when he comes back to town when he learns that his son has become rich. Tom Sawyer: a friend of Huck who is about the same age. Duke and Dauphin: two friends who go around tricking people and getting their money, they also join Huck and Jim on the raft. Plot: Huck and tom have earlier found a hidden treasure they are allowed to keep the treasure. His father comes back for his money and to take it all. He feels that it is rightfully his and tries to catch him many times. One day he waits for him catches him and they have a short fight. When Huck is locked in the cabin down river his father beats him. After a couple of months pass he runs away and His father thinks that he is dead because of the pig blood Huck left behind. Aft... Free Essays on Huckleberry Finn Free Essays on Huckleberry Finn Title: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Author: Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) Author Works: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper Mark Twain: Mark Twain is one of America’s best authors and the most famous. Mark twain was born in 1835 on November 30 in Florida, Missouri. Florida and Hannibal, Missouri is where he got his ideas for Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Twain was an avid traveler he went to many places in his time; all aver the world. To write he observed people doing there everyday lives. He got many awards from colleges universities and others; He died On April 21, 1910. Illustrator: none Setting: Some of the book is set in St. Petersburg, Missouri. But most of the book is set in and on the Mississippi River. The City is about 80 miles away from St. Louis. But The Book is in Eighteenth Century America. Characterization: Huck Finn: the main Character of the book, son of the town drunk. He is 12 yrs old. Clever and knows a lot about life. Jim: the run away slave of Miss Watson helps Huck gain freedom. Travels with him. Widow Douglas: Huck’s guardian who adopts him and wants to civilize him. Takes care of two other kids. Pap: Huck’s father when he comes back to town when he learns that his son has become rich. Tom Sawyer: a friend of Huck who is about the same age. Duke and Dauphin: two friends who go around tricking people and getting their money, they also join Huck and Jim on the raft. Plot: Huck and tom have earlier found a hidden treasure they are allowed to keep the treasure. His father comes back for his money and to take it all. He feels that it is rightfully his and tries to catch him many times. One day he waits for him catches him and they have a short fight. When Huck is locked in the cabin down river his father beats him. After a couple of months pass he runs away and His father thinks that he is dead because of the pig blood Huck left behind. Aft...

3 Common Mistakes When Presenting Quotations

3 Common Mistakes When Presenting Quotations 3 Common Mistakes When Presenting Quotations 3 Common Mistakes When Presenting Quotations By Mark Nichol Reproducing the precise wording of a saying or the exact words someone has said or someone might say requires adherence to a simple set of rules of punctuation and capitalization, as described and demonstrated in the discussions following each of the examples provided below. 1. The old saying, â€Å"What gets rewarded gets done,† is applicable to any business process. Setting off a saying, or a question or any other type of quotation, with commas marks the quoted material as the only specimen of that type of thing. Because this is not an attributed direct quotation, it should be presented with nonrestrictive construction, indicating that it is merely one of multiple possible sayings: â€Å"The old saying ‘What gets rewarded gets done’ is applicable to any business process.† 2. Demonstrators chanted â€Å"release the tape† and â€Å"we want the tape† as they marched down the street. An attribution (an identification of one or more speakers) must be followed by- or preceded by- a comma (in the former case, a colon is sometimes used instead), and the first word of a full quotation should be capitalized: â€Å"Demonstrators chanted, ‘Release the tape!’ and ‘We want the tape!’ as they marched down the street.† (Notice, too, that exclamation points have been inserted at the end of each quotation to indicate that the speakers raised the volume of their voices above the normal range.) 3. When you tell young people to turn off the phone, they hear please cut off your left arm above the elbow. When describing at a distance of time and/or space what a person or people say or would conceivably say, treat the statement as an actual quotation: â€Å"When you tell young people to turn off the phone, they hear, ‘Please cut off your left arm above the elbow.’† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Program vs. ProgrammeExpanded and ExtendedNeither... or?

Identify recent key themes relating to recruitment and selection Essay

Identify recent key themes relating to recruitment and selection. Critically discuss the way in which recruitment strategies and - Essay Example Hiring the wrong person for the job can be costly for the organisation due to which it is essential that the right individual must be recruited and selected for the right job (Leopold, Harris, & Watson, 2005). Recruitment and selection is a vital process of human resource management as it attract individuals to work for the organisation based on qualification to achieve the height of success (Walker, 2009). Thus recruitment is a process to identify the potential candidate from internal and external sources for the right job and at the right time. On the other hand, selection is a process to identify the ideal candidate for the job that will be allowed to work for the organisation in order to achieve the goals and objectives. In simpler words, selection could be said as the process to make decision to â€Å"hire† or â€Å"no hire† regarding the candidates recruited for the job. Both the processes vary from country to country and from job to job. Both these processes are used by organisations to increase the odds of hiring the potential candidate for the right job at the right time to be successful at what they do (Walker, 2009). Recruitment and Selection Strategies In order to gain a competitive edge over the others in the market, organisation relies heavily on the recruitment and selection strategies that could identify and attract the best qualified candidate for the job. ... Organisation can either recruit or select potential applicants from internal or external source which is entirely based on the level of job that needs to be done. For a senior level job, organisation tends to recruit and select employees from internal sources; succession management, and for operational and technical jobs preference is given to external sources (Pilbeam & Corbridge, 2006). The process of recruitment and selection is equally important for organisations as this process helps the organisation to attain and attract qualified personnel through strategies. Getting the right person at the right place and at the right time is essential in recruiting and selection process of an organisation. Recruitment and selection strategies act side by side in order to provide the organisation with the best available personnel to work for the accomplishment of goals and objectives (Redman & Wilkinson, 2006). The recruitment process provides the organisation with a variety of talent pool ba sed on the decision to fill an existing vacancy within an organisation. The first strategy in the recruitment process is the identification of requirement for the job and fitting the job in the organisation. According to Legge (2005) the effectiveness of recruitment and selection strategy could be seen through the reduction in turnover rate and motivation of employees. The focus of recruitment and selection strategies is to match the capabilities and skills of candidates against the requirements and demands for the job (Marchington, M. & Wilkinson, 2008). An organisation can recruit and select professional as well as non-management candidate through different recruitment strategies (Salaman, Storey, & Billsbury, 2005). These strategies include; The use of internet for

Operations Management Forecasting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Operations Management Forecasting - Essay Example Throughout the past two decades more as well as more businessmen have learned the value of using financial forecasts in preparation the affairs of the companies which they administer. The increasing receipt of formal financial forecasts by management may be attributed to a wide diversity of causes. In the primary place, young men educated in the theory of trade and financial administrations have achieved positions of liability in many companies. Moreover, the excellent courses in industry administration and economics, given in American universities and colleges, have affected the decision-making techniques employed in modern venture. Men trained in these institutions have been tending to get hold of the most comprehensive facts obtainable concerning the factors which mainly determine the results of their production ventures. As a result, the operations of more trade have been subject to the influence of men who try to reduce the effect of chance as an issue determining success or failure. Probably the mainly significant single forecast used by the management of commerce is the sales forecast. A confidentially owned business exists to create and sell commodities at a profit in competition by means of other enterprises. It follows that the measure of goods to be produced and the price at which such merchandise will be sold are significant measures of the action of the venture and affect the scale of the profits obtained. As a result, practically all other forecasts used in planning the relationships of a trade enterprise depend on a sales forecast. This is true of approximation which may be made concerning prospect profits, modify in products, capability requirements, organization, bloodthirsty effort, capital necessities, inventories, etc. no doubt, these may be termed the "internal" forecasts, because these are approximation of the situations inside a single company which are completely or mainly convenient by the management. Forecasting in framework On the other hand, the sales forecast is based on additional forecasts concerning future financial conditions, likely efforts by competitors, political situations, modify in technology, cultural growth, etc. These approximations may be termed "external" forecasts, because the situations would exist even if the corporation concerned did not, and, so, they are outside to a company. Qualitative Forecasting Methods Forecasts consequence from ruling and supposition made by management. Actually a helpful forecast is the result of a huge number of judgments which have been made concerning many dissimilar matters. Because lots of the situations which will affect a forecast are not exactly determinable, the judgment of the forecaster often must be based on unfinished or

Dante, Plato, Aristotle Essay Example for Free

Dante, Plato, Aristotle Essay The assignment is poetry v. philosophy. Plato speaks of a quarrel b/t poetry and philosophy. He dismisses the arts while Aristotle defends them. DO we see traces of this quarrel in later traditions? If so, where? And how is it played out there? For this essay, in addition to Plato and Aristotle, focus on Dantes Inferno. (Please look to see if my thesis is clear and strong, my evidence is all relevant, and whether this whole essay persuades you) Throughout his life, Plato strongly believed that the arts and philosophy directly opposed each other. On the other hand, Aristotle defended poetry as an aid to philosophy. Dante, a philosophical poet, successfully synthesizes Plato and Aristotles views in the Divine Comedy of the Inferno without compromising either school of thought. He acknowledges the fact that while the arts have its uses within the material world and philosophy its uses in the spiritual, both need the other to be complete. Both Plato and Aristotle agree that poetry brings about great emotion which has a lasting impact on the individual and society. However, they disagree on poetrys emotional effects. In Meno, Plato believes it results in harm while Aristotle argues that it leads to improvement in Poetics. Upon closer inspection, we see that Dantes Inferno contains a philosophical significance underlying its poetic style. Poetry and philosophy work towards the same end, but in different ways. There is no doubt that poetry is an imitation. What Aristotle and Plato dispute over is the source of that imitation. Plato strongly states that the arts are mimetic, twice removed from the truth. They are an imitation of the ideal entities in the realm of the forms, in which all things are perfect. For instance, tragedy presents multiple possibilities and situations rather than a single essence. In Meno, Platos Socrates discusses the difference between doxa and episteme. Poets, politicians and priests utilize doxa, a type of knowledge that is not mediated through any intellectual reasoning. This further demonstrates the composition of the material realm. Right opinion, or doxa, flees from the mind just as the materialistic body quickly perishes. Socrates says opinion is not worth much until it is fastened with reasoning of cause and effect (Plato 65). He is alluding to episteme, true knowledge that remains in the brain. This is accomplished through intellectual inquiry in the ideal realm. Throughout the dialogue, Menon insults Socrates by saying he looks like a stingray, alluding to a type of numbing-drug. However, Menon proves to have false knowledge as Socrates shows how anamnesis occurs via the Socratic Method. Only when he experiences aporia, the state of confusion and realization of ones ignorance, can he reach true knowledge. The reference to the drug, pharmakon, symbolizes how Menon became numb to the false, material world in order to transition to the divine realm where all things originate. While Plato asserts that imitation comes from the true essence of things, Aristotle believes it has its roots in human action. In Poetics, he examines how humans have an instinct for imitation, harmony and rhythm. We often learn our earliest lessons from mimesis. Aristotle asserts that the only way to reach the ideal is through action. He views it as a horizontal developmental rather than a vertical one, as Plato did. By the process of energia, we move from potential to actuality. This is also analogous to the concept of the material to the ideal. We come out of the cave and into the sun through our own activities. As the arts best represent action, tragedy contains knowledge because it presents psychological possibilities and universal truths about ourselves. Each possible reality may be the ideal essence. Tragedy, after all, is an imitation of action and of life, not men. The stage externalizes whats within our souls. The actors play out the meaning of life which the audience can safely inspect without endangering themselves. This perspective is extremely human-centric compared to Platos divine ideal. For instance, tragedy contains plot that is action-centric and based on the structure of incidents. Unlike a story, a plots events can be resequenced in any fashion. This is like an experiment in which the stage is our lab. A plot can furthermore be split in two ways: complex or simple. A complex plot contains peripeteia and anagnorisis. The latter, similar to Platos Meno, shows the progression from ignorance to knowledge. Yet the characters on stage, even after making decisions, are still susceptible to Fortunes will. Thus peripeteia occurs, alluding to God and the divine realm we ultimately reach with the aid of anagnorisis. There are some things people cant control. However, what we do imitate and control are our actions within the material world. For Aristotle, action was the most significant aim to focus on. In Dantes Inferno, the poet Virgil guides Dante into Hell. Poetry begins to act as a gentler remedy compared to philosophy. It is more relatable to the human mind and physical world. Through catharsis, Dante must eliminate all emotional tumult to become enlightened. This process of catharsis is similar to the movement from the material to spiritual realm. Paradiso, the highest realm, is where true intellect exists and where we become one with God. In the second canto, Dante demonstrates the wickedness of emotions and the materialistic realm when Virgil tells him: Your soul has been assailed by cowardice, which often weighs so heavily on a man- distracting him from honorable trails- as phantoms frighten beasts when shadows fall. (lines 45-48) This is an extremely Platonian perspective. Partially right, Plato believed that tragedy produced cowardly leaders as it appealed to passion rather than logic and reason. Through Virgil, Dante demonstrates how the arts, especially poetry, are effective in cleansing the soul of emotion by experiencing or contemplating it. Much like the Socratic Method in Meno, Dante must become numb to false knowledge via catharsis and begin with a clean slate. He accomplishes this by observing the damned in the inferno. When he passes through aporia, only then will he become enlightened and obtain truth. The shadows are a reference to Augustines visio corporals, the cave of pure materiality, in which false knowledge resides. Dante says in canto one that man must come out of the shadowed forest (line 2) where he is so full of sleep (line 11). All this is accomplished through human action, represented through tragedy and poetry. Furthermore, Virgil symbolizes the coming emergence of Christian Rome through Dante. He has already taken Aeneas to the Underworld, setting up the entire story. Parallel to this, poetry lays the necessary foundation for the coming age of philosophy. Dante uses typology of the inferno to paradiso. Like the Hebrew Bible, the inferno remains incomplete and foreshadows whats to come. The New Testament completes the text, in the same way philosophy does to poetry. Each is interdependent on the other. In the Inferno, Dante fails to read the inscription to the Gateway to Hell, demonstrating how the archaic style of backgrounding no longer resounds in the new age of foregrounding. This method brings to light how the mind reads and interprets with reason. Because the material realm is incomplete, Dante cannot move to this abstract, spiritual meaning without first going through the forest. In the third canto, Virgil describes to Dante how those in hell have lost the good of the intellect (line 18). The mind can never be fulfilled as it is a pure sensory experience. This is proven when Virgil is only able to guide Dante so far. He cannot take Dante beyond the material realm because he is not a Christian. He represents the arts, the non-metaphysical. A higher entity, Beatrice, will lead him to paradiso. Virgil declares in canto one: If you would then ascend as high as these / a soul more worthy than I am will guide you (lines 121-122). Likewise, we can think of poetry, represented by Virgil, as a disguise to philosophy, the eventual remedy of Beatrice. While philosophy speaks of a thing itself, poetry uses metaphors as a transition to reach a philosophical conclusion. It is a vehicle for truth in its own peculiar way, addressing our minds through imagination, sensibility and feelings. Dante can synthesize Plato and Aristotles views because they are working toward one common goal: the divine, the cave of pure intellect. The mechanisms of philosophy are simply a more sophisticated turn on poetry. Traces of Plato are still seen in Dante, especially when he states in the fifth canto: Those who undergo this torment are damned because they sinned subjecting reason to the rule of lust (lines 37-39). However, in tragedy, what seems irrational and absurd to the audience becomes permeated with reason as it speaks the universal truth about ourselves. The arts show there is something beyond human thought and action as the audience learn how we cannot control everything. There is something beyond this human, materialistic world that we cannot begin to understand. This is God, which is exactly what philosophy aims at. It speaks the truth, not only of human action, but of the existence of the ultimate good. In this way, poetry consists of rational thought and intellect. Virgil tells Dante in canto eight: Forget your fear, no one can hinder our passage; One so great has granted it (lines 104-105). We are turning inward to our souls to reach the divine. This also speaks of Gods infinite and unexplainable power. God makes the impossible possible. Dante had to go down into the deepest level of hell to see the divine. This irony demonstrates catabasis and anagogy, the one single movement towards God. Furthermore, Cassius and Brutus foreshadow Judas betrayal. These three make up the material inversion of the Holy Trinity. We are able to see God in Lucifer. This demonstrates the typology from the inferno to paradiso as well as the process of recollection in Platos Meno and Aristotles Poetics. Just as Dante had to move through death to experience life, the reader must pass through poetry to obtain philosophy. All thinking about God involves moving from the material to the realm of the forms. The divine uses metaphors, our language, to help us understand. We are able to indirectly talk to God through poetry as He determines our fate. It was his will to send Dante into Hell. Like poetrys catharsis and philosophys pharmakon, Dante engages his mind as he journeys through the inferno. By looking and contemplating the suffering of the damned, he becomes reconciled to aspects of his life which would otherwise be nonsensical. Both the poet and philosopher seek the existence of God and of the metaphysical. Although Dante recognizes that the arts have limited utility, he realizes how poetry helps lay the foundation for philosophy through the Aristotelian and Platonian method. It has a cognitive function by helping to better appreciate and complete philosophy. As Venantius Fortunatus wrote in his hymn Vexilla Regis, by death did life procure. Likewise, by poetry did philosophy come about.

Instant Messaging the Conversation of Tomorrow :: Computers Communication Essays

Instant Messaging the Conversation of Tomorrow I can remember my first day here at Eastern Michigan University. I moved in all of my belongings, including the new computer my parents bought me to start off the new school year. After setting everything up in my room I hooked up the computer and signed on to my AOL Instant Messenger for the first time. I wanted a screen name that would some how reflect my personality and ended up with butterfly3742. The butterfly referring to my free spirit emerging from the cocoon of my parent’s home, and the 3742 was the last four digits of my brand new very own telephone number. As the school year slowly progressed I added tons of new buddies to my â€Å"cool people† list, also friends from high school and home that went away to other universities started signing on so it became the easiest and most economical way to stay in touch. Instead, of being on the phone till all hours of the night, I was typing away at my computer with whoever was online at the time. My parents were ecstatic because I managed to keep my long distance phone bill at the bare minimum. They rewarded my money saving tactics through other means. Basically, the instant messenger became a standard, resourceful, and economical way of keeping in touch through writing with friends from my past and friends in my present. Instant messenger is an easy tool used for written communication that has taken the world by storm. No longer is it cool as a student to use your phone, or other written materials as a form of interaction among friends. Authors are also beginning to see reading from the screen as becoming the norm of our society. As reading texts on screen is becoming a more accepted practice, using the IM is becoming the standard form of written communication for many adolescents across the globe. Writer James Sosnoski also accepts the custom of reading on screen becoming a norm. â€Å"Though I readily acknowledge that many persons do not like to read from their screens at this time, I assume that over a period of time, the practice will become so habitual that it will seem â€Å"natural†- just as it now seems customary to use a computer rather than a typewriter.

Book Fair Essay

The theme of this year’s book fair was â€Å"E-books† keeping in mind the increasing number of IT- savvy younger generation with a penchant for internet, mobile-phones and other reader-friendly digital gizmos. It attracted over 230 participants from India and Abroad. The overseas participants were from China, Pakistan, UK and USA. The fair provided a unique platform for business-to-business transactions, establishing new contacts, entering into co-publishing arrangements, reprinting of old and rare books. The visitor profile at the fair included national and international publishers, librarian, researchers, academicians, writers, students and book lovers. Entry ticket for adults was Rs.20/- per ticket while the same for children/students(with I.D.) was Rs.10/- per ticket. For the convenience of visitors, free shuttle service was also available between the entry gates and fair venue. Besides, the facility of wheelchair with attendant was also provided for convenience of physically challenged. Hon’ble Lt. Governor of Delhi Shri Tejendra Khanna inaugurated the fair on 1st sept,12 at the auditorium, Hall No. 8,Pragati Maidan,New Delhi. Chairperson and Managing director, ITPO, Smt. Rita Menon, president FIP, Sri Sudhir Malhotra, executive director , ITPO, Sri Neeraj Kumar Gupta, Director Delhi Book Fair, FIP, Sri Shakti Mallik, ITPO, Sri B.L. Meena Diplomats, senior ITPO Officials, besides representatives of participating companies from India and Abroad were present on the occasion. Complimenting ITPO and FIP for institutionalizing a book event of international stature, Sri Tejendra in his inaugural address, pointed out  the significant role played by books in achieving global integration by building litrary bridged across the socio-cultural, linguistic and religious diversities.It was observed that basically book fulfill three functions , acquisition of knowledge, entertainment and inspiration. Sri Khanna appealed to the publishers to bring out books tha are constructive, secular and progressive in outlook as books have a significant role in shaping the next generation. Welcoming overseas exhibitors from China, Pakistan, UK and USA, he expessed the hope that the fair would give a fillip to enhance international collaborations in publishing and business transactions. He also voiced optimism that the upcoming redevelopment project of a world class integrated exhibition-cum-convention complex in Pragati Maidan would open new avenues of trade promotion. Delhi Book Fair 2012 was supplemented by a no. of seminars,workshops, poetry, and litrary evenings and book launches. The subject of concurrent seminars and workshops included : â€Å"Topper secrets of success† by AIETS, â€Å"Digital Book Market in India† by qbend LLC, â€Å"Telling Tales to Children† by NBT, â€Å"Literature and Values† by Authors Guild of India, â€Å"Public Libraries† by the Indian Library Association, â€Å"Discover the Genius in Your child† by AIETS. The workshops will be on â€Å"E-publishing† by digital media initiatives and â€Å"Mind Power Tool Intellectual Property in information age†. Besides, an exclusive program on â€Å"Strategies for Success In Your Application to American Universities, American Embassy, ‘A complete ERP solution for printing and publishing Industry’ by UNEECOPS and ‘Kitab Tere Roop Anek’ by Bachpan society and FIP was also held during the Fair. A unique feature of this Delhi Book Fair was the Screening of films based on novels of selected Indian Authors at the Shakuntalam convention centre, Pragati Maidan. As its tribute to some famous authors whose works have inspired the making of celluloid masterpieces over the last 100 years. ITPO organized a special screening of nine feature films in hindi and some regional languages during the Delhi Book Fair. The films were Duniya Ne Mane(Hindi), Meghe Dhaka Tara(Bengali), Guide(Hindi), Samskara(Kannada), Umbartha(Marathi), Vidheyan(Malyalam),Slumdog Millionaire(English),  Parineeta(Hindi), 3 Idiots(hindi). Entry to the film was free and on first come first basis. The Archie’s store attracted many small kids and students as it offered variety of gift items at heavy discount it included stuff toys, show pieces, Mugs, Key Chains and many other items. Large areas were covered with mats for visitors to get some rest after walking from stall to stall. A cafeteria was also there. As compared to the previous editions, the Delhi Book Fair 2012 attracted additional footfalls on account of the popular event, the 14th edition of stationary fair . The display profile of the fair was organized in Hall no. 12A and covered a wide range of stationary items, including writing instruments, materials, pens, pencils sketch pens, erasers, geometry boxed, drawing and painting material, crayons, paints, brushes, computer related stationary items. Other items which featured at stationary fair included office supplies, files, file covers/boards, labels, photocopy paper, staplers, highlighters, diaries, calendars, adhesives, writing pads, material for seminars, conferences, stationary packing machines and materials etc. After attracting legions of visitors, Delhi Book Fair 2012 concluded successfully on September 9, 2012. Sri Neeraj Kumar Gupta, Executive director, ITPO presented the awards for excellence in display to the winners at the fair. Present on the occasion were Sri B.L. Meena, Officer on Special Duty, ITPO, participants and media persons. Trophies were also awarded for excellence in display in the Stationary Fair with E-Monte pens bagging the gold, Pacific paper products the silver, the Srinivas Fine Art the bronze. Later speaking to the media, Sri Gupta said that ITPO would andeavour to hold future editions of the Book Fair on the larger format with cooperation and the support of all the sections of the book trade and Industry. The Vote of Thanks was proposed by Sri B.L. Meena, OSD and ITPO.

Comparing and Contrasting the Two Major American Political Parties

In the United States there exists largely a dichotomy with respect to parties of political affiliation, and while other parties can and do exist, most people refer to the US as it is now as a â€Å"two-party state. † The two parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, have existed in our country for over one hundred fifty-three years each, and the struggle for power in which they both partake has been no small matter, becoming more and more hotly contested as time goes on.While both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party (GOP herein) seem starkly opposite at surface level, the two often have similar goals, aspirations and plans for our country, with the main point of contention being the methods by which such things are brought about. Fiscally, the Democrats and GOP both want a free economy with as little national debt as sustainably possible, but, for the most part, the Democrats favor government action, and the GOP favors private action. With respect to so cial policy, the Democrats favor more progressive legislation, and the GOP favors more traditional legislation.As the US stands currently, in a recession, no American could disagree that everyone’s goal for the economy is to get out of the recession. The real question is â€Å"How do we do it? † Republicans say that we should cut spending, cut taxes and allow those cuts in taxes to promote job creation in the private sector: jobs come from businesses, and when the people who own the businesses have more money, they can hire more people to do more work, which would raise GDP and reduce the national debt.Democrats say that we should raise taxes to increase revenue, and use the increased revenue to sponsor various economic stimuli to promote greater productivity and job creation. This sort of top-down/bottom-up perspective has led many Americans to believe the motivations of the two parties to be a conflict of social classes, with Republicans representing largely the rich , and Democrats representing largely the poor.Undoubtedly, the largest differences between the two major parties exist in the social platforms of each. The GOP is composed mostly of those who are socially conservative, the Democratic Party, of those who are socially liberal, but there are certainly those within each party whose beliefs vary. The Democratic Party generally supports legislation promoting social tolerance, i. e. policies which limit the government’s ability to tell any person what to do, provided that they not infringe upon the rights of others.This amounts to policies in favor of things gay marriage and marijuana legalization and policies opposed to abortion restrictions, welfare drugs tests and public funding of religious institutions and schools. The GOP generally supports social legislation which maintains the status quo, protecting the foundation of America which those before us have provided. In this manner, the GOP usually favors legislation that protects the sanctity of marriage (i. e. ne man, one woman), prevents drug addicts from receiving welfare and prevents people from harming themselves with drug use, and the GOP generally opposes legislation that would allow any of the previous things to occur. Interestingly, however, the GOP strongly supports the exercise of the Second Amendment to its fullest capacity, opposing almost any gun control law, while the Democrats generally favor gun control with respect to some of the more dangerously liable guns such as assault rifles or even some semi-automatic rifles.In terms of demographics and geography, the Democrats and Republicans are quite contrasting. By and large, the Republican Party is most powerful in the South and Midwest, while the Democratic Party gains its power mostly from the North and the West coast. Republicans are more likely to be older, more wealthy, more religious and white (though this obviously does not mean all Republicans are white). Democrats are more likely to be younger, more educated and more ethnically varied than the Republican Party.These snapshots into the average Democrat or the average Republican must be taken with a grain of salt, however, as demographics and geographic are not causes of the party composition, but merely correlations which have been concluded. While the Democrats and Republicans have long been considered bitter rivals, and for the most part it is true, the two major parties in America are not quite as disparate and incongruous as many would think.They both have the same major goals for the economy, but only the methodology differs. They have different ideas for social policy, stemming from the more religious and more secular worldviews which most Republicans and most Democrats respectively hold. With the differences aside from both, the Democrats and Republicans in political offices do come together to prevent the one which they fear most: the success of any third party. Both parties will stop at nothing to maintai n whatever power they each have.

Death Penalty Research Paper 10 Facts about the Most Severe Cases

Death Penalty Research Paper 10 Facts about the Most Severe Cases People often consider the topics about the death penalty the hardest ones among argumentative texts. It is required to state the personal position regarding the execution process and about its applicability for special categories of the society. The problem of the final punishment encompasses both moral and philosophical aspects. There will always be people who are voting for implementing crimes, and they have hundreds of reasons which support their position. There are also those who are claiming that execution is the remnant of the past dark ages, and now, there are other means of rehabilitating the criminals which can help them to atone for their sins. It is possible to present a lot of cases where the death penalty is absolutely justified. Some of them are among the most atrocious and inhuman deeds which deserve nothing less than death. Here you will find 10 most terrifying cases which resulted in the death penalty. They will be perfect inspirational sources for death penalty research paper writing that can also assist in the development of personal opinion regarding the topic. Top 10 Severest Death Penalty Cases   Oklahoma bomberTimothy McVeigh, better known as Oklahoma bomber was condemned to death in 2001. He was guilty of taking lives of 168 people inflicting serious injuries to hundreds of innocent people as a result of an explosion of a bomb in a track near Alfred P Murrah Building. Up until 9/11 events, it was considered the most terrible mass terrorist act in the US. The criminal was totally remorseless and even joked that he will still win if executed – 168 corpses against one. The Butcher of PlainfieldEd Gein is among the most terrifying names for all American people. The number of his victims was not detected. The terrible person collected the body parts of the victims and crafted a mask of the victims’ skin. He was the prototype of the infamous movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The beast was condemned to death, but he didn’t live to the execution time as he died from cancer. Ted BundyAs per official statements, this person killed 30 people around the US while rougher estimates the claim that there were over a hundred of victims. He strangled and raped both men, women, and children. He was condemned to electrocution, and while sitting on it, the only thing he said was that it was the pornography that created him the way he was. Charles NgThe person was guilty of raping and killing nearly 25 people in a forest house. The criminal kidnapped, raped, and slaughtered the victims. The atrocity with which the killings were committed can scare even the most experienced criminals. Moreover, after being incarcerated during the exploration of the shelter, there were detected 18 kilos of burn bones which were buried on the earth floor. Lisa M MontgomeryThis female criminal is somewhat different from the previous ones – there was one murder, although the level of inhumanity is beyond all borders. She got acquainted with a future mother via a chat and met her in the real life. Lisa strangled the victim and cut her open with taking out the corpse of the unborn child. As per the analysis, she was perfectly sane while committing the crime. The reasons for such a behavior from a mother of four kids cannot be explained. Randy Steven KraftWithin a period of 10 years, the culprit raped, tortured, and killed near 70 young males of 13-35 age range and never accepted the guilt. The man is among the top serial killers who committed crimes based on sexual background. He lured the victims into his van where he raped and cut off the genitals. Freeway Killer – that was the nickname that he received for the manner of committing crimes. The most terrible thing is that even being condemned to death, he felt neither guilt nor remorse. Bobby Joe Long The man alone rose the killing level in the Tampa Bay to unbelievable level in 1984. He raped and killed mostly prostitutes like Jack the Reaper. He stayed unnoticed for a long time as people do not pay attention to the workers of sex industry considering them immoral and unneeded for the society until one of the women escaped and asked the police for help. Rodney AlcalaThis serial killer case is said to be the most numerous one. Before killing, the maniac liked to play with the victims. He is often associated with top-level cases of BTK killer and terrifying Zodiac Killer that was never captured or detected. Although he received 3 death sentences, he’s still alive. Charles MansonSometimes, the maniac can create a society of the same ill-perverse people. It happened with the creation of Manson Family, where cases of brutal slaughtering and cannibalism took place in the 1960s. Charles had been condemned to capital punishment in 1971, but it was postponed in 1972 after the cancellation of the death penalty. He lived until 2017 and died at the age of 83. Ricardo Ramirez The person is frequently referred to as Night Stalker. He was not only a serial killer but also a Satanist and a necrophile. There were little children and old people among his victims. Some of the murders were performed as a satanic ritual. He wasn’t executed as he died from blood cancer in 2013. These were and are some of many cases of similar outrage and horror. All of them deserve investigating as the core idea of crime and punishment should be analyzed for understanding the nature of the crimes and how they should be prevented in the most humane method. References: Haggerty, Kevin. (2009). Modern serial killers. Crime Media Culture CRIME MEDIA CULT. 5. 10.1177/1741659009335714.  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228641791_Modern_serial_killers James Alan Fox and Jack Levin. Multiple Homicide: Patterns of Serial and Mass Murder. The University of Chicago Press.  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/James_Fox12/publication/238276561_Multiple_Homicide_Patterns_of_Serial_and_Mass_Murder/links/53f746700cf2888a749790af/Multiple-Homicide-Patterns-of-Serial-and-Mass-Murder.pdf Canter, David Wentink, Natalia. (2004). An Empirical Test of Holmes and Holmes’s Serial Murder Typology. Criminal Justice and Behavior CRIM JUSTICE BEHAV. 31. 489-515. 10.1177/0093854804265179.  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David_Canter/publication/255659251_An_Empirical_Test_of_Holmes_and_Holmes%27s_Serial_Murder_Typology/links/0c96052aaf2fa54103000000/An-Empirical-Test-of-Holmes-and-Holmess-Serial-Murder-Typology.pdf?origin=publication_detail Kevin Haggerty and Ariane Ellerbrok. The social study of serial killers. cjm no. 86 December 2011  https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/sites/crimeandjustice.org.uk/files/09627251.2011.646180.pdf Gibson, D. (2006), Serial Murder and Media Circuses, Westport, CT: Praeger  https://gpreview.kingborn.net/518000/bca00de3f6054816a942909b8ec395ca.pdf Amelie Pedneault. Ted Bundy on the malignant being: An analysis of the justificatory discourse of a serial killer.  sfu.ca/~palys/crim862-Pedneault-TedBundyJustificatoryDiscourse.pdf

Biography of Mary Custis Lee, Gen. Robert E. Lees Wife

Biography of Mary Custis Lee, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Wife Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee  (October 1, 1808–November 5, 1873) was the  great-granddaughter of Martha Washington  and  the wife of Robert E. Lee. She played a part in the American Civil War, and her family legacy home became the site of Arlington National Cemetery. Fast Facts: Mary Custis Lee Known For: Wife of Civil War general Robert E. Lee and great-granddaughter of Martha WashingtonAlso Known As: Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee  Born: October 1, 1807 in Annefield  in  Boyce, VirginiaParents: George Washington Parke Custis, Mary Lee Fitzhugh CustisDied: November 5, 1873 in Lexington, VirginiaPublished Works: Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington, by his Adopted Son George Washington Parke Custis, with a Memoir of this Author by his Daughter (edited and published)Spouse: Robert E. Lee (m.  1831–October. 12, 1870)Children: George Washington Custis, William Henry Fitzhugh, Robert E. Lee Jr., Eleanor Agnes, Anne Carter, Mildred Childe, Mary CustisNotable Quote: â€Å"I rode out to my dear old home, so changed it seemed but as a dream of the past. I could not have realized that it was Arlington but for the few old oaks they had spared, the trees planted on the lawn by the Gen’l myself which are raising their tall branches to the Heaven which seems to smile on the desecration around them.† Early Years Marys father George Washington Parke Custis was the adopted son and the step-grandson of George Washington. Mary was his only surviving child, and thus his heir. Educated at home, Mary showed talent in painting. She was courted by many men including Sam Houston but rejected his suit. She accepted the proposal of marriage in 1830 from Robert E. Lee, a distant relative shed known from childhood, after his graduation from West Point. (They had common ancestors Robert Carter I, Richard Lee II and William Randolph, making them respectively third cousins, third cousins once removed, and fourth cousins.) They were married in the parlor at her family home, Arlington House, on June 30, 1831. Highly religious from a young age, Mary Custis Lee was often troubled by illness. As the wife of a military officer, she traveled with him, though she was most happy at her family home in Arlington, Virginia. Eventually, the Lees had seven children, with Mary often suffering from illness and various disabilities including rheumatoid arthritis. She was known as a hostess and for her painting and gardening. When her husband went to Washington, she preferred to remain at home. She avoided Washingtons social circles but was avidly interested in politics and discussed matters with her father and later her husband. The Lee family enslaved many people of African descent. Mary assumed that eventually theyd all be freed, and taught the women to read, write, and sew so that they could support themselves after emancipation. Civil War When Virginia joined the Confederate States of America at the beginning of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee resigned his commission with the federal army and accepted a commission in the army of Virginia. With some delay, Mary Custis Lee, whose illness confined her much of the time to a wheelchair, was convinced to pack up many of the familys belongings and move out of the home at Arlington because its nearness to Washington, D.C., would make it a target for confiscation by the Union forces. And thats what happened, for failure to pay taxes- though an attempt to pay the taxes was apparently refused. She spent many years after the war ended trying to regain possession of her Arlington home: Poor Virginia is being pressed on every side, yet I trust God will yet deliver us. I do not allow myself to think of my dear old home. Would that it had been razed to the ground or submerged in the Potomac rather than have fallen into such hands. From Richmond where she spent much of the war, Mary and her daughters knitted socks and sent them to her husband to distribute to soldiers in the Confederate Army. Later Years and Death Robert returned after the surrender of the Confederacy, and Mary moved with Robert to Lexington, Virginia, where he became president of Washington College (later renamed Washington and Lee University). During the war, many of the family possessions inherited from the Washingtons were buried for safety. After the war, many were found to have been damaged, but some- the silver, some carpets, some letters among them- survived. Those that had been left in the Arlington home were declared by Congress to be the property of the American people. Neither Robert E. Lee nor Mary Custis Lee survived many years after the end of the Civil War. He died in 1870. Arthritis plagued Mary Custis Lee in her later years, and she died in Lexington on Nov. 5, 1873- after making one trip to see her old Arlington home. In 1882, the U.S. Supreme Court in a ruling returned the home to the family;  Mary and Roberts son Custis sold it right  back to the government. Mary Custis Lee is buried with her husband on the Washington and Lee University campus in Lexington, Virginia. Sources â€Å"The Life of Mary Custis Lee.†Ã‚  EHISTORY.â€Å"Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee.†Ã‚  National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.Pryor, Elizabeth Brown. â€Å"Mary Randolph Custis Lee (1807–1873).†Ã‚  Lee, Mary Randolph Custis (1807–1873), Encyclopediavirginia.org.